DA Editorial Desk | Sara Debbarma
A quiet fact in Tripura’s draft electoral rolls for the coming urban local body elections deserves wider notice. Of the 6,31,388 registered voters across the 21 bodies, 3,22,360 are women and 3,08,983 are men. Another 45 are electors of the third gender. That works out to 1,043 women for every 1,000 men. In the Agartala Municipal Corporation, the pattern is the same, with 1,85,099 women and 1,77,497 men. Only two of the 21 bodies, Bishramganj Nagar Panchayat and Melaghar Municipal Council, both in Sepahijala district, have more male than female voters.
This is a welcome picture. It suggests that women are well represented on the rolls and that the electoral machinery has reached them. It also fits with what was seen in the recent Village Committee polls, where women were reported to have outnumbered men among those who voted, with overall turnout above 81 per cent. Women in Tripura are clearly ready to take part in the choices that shape their neighbourhoods, and that readiness is an asset for every party and every institution.
Being on the list is the first step. The next is making sure that every eligible woman can use her vote easily and confidently. Claims and objections on the draft rolls were to close on 8 October, and the final rolls are due on 15 October. After that date, the State Election Commission and local bodies can help by encouraging households to check that their names, addresses and details are correct. Families, neighbourhood groups and women’s self-help groups can play a part by reminding one another to confirm their entries while there is still time to fix errors.
The Commission has released a list of 783 polling stations for the 21 bodies, with 439 in the Agartala Municipal Corporation area alone. A few simple arrangements can make these stations welcoming for women. Clear signs, shaded waiting areas, seating for the elderly, drinking water, accessible ramps and well-lit surroundings make a difference, as does the presence of women polling staff and women police personnel.
Participation need not stop at the ballot box. Municipal councils and corporations deal with matters that touch women’s daily lives directly: drinking water, drainage, street lighting, waste collection, markets and public transport. Women are often the first to notice when these services fail and the first to know what would fix them. Political parties of every persuasion have an opportunity to bring more women forward as candidates and campaign workers, and voters can encourage them to do so.
The election dates are still to be announced, and the polls must be completed by December. When they come, the lists will show who is entitled to take part. What the city becomes will depend on how many of those entitled actually do. Tripura’s women have shown their interest. The task for institutions, parties and communities is to make participation easy, safe and meaningful, so that the numbers on the list become voices in the council.